Scotland

Considering applying to Nesta’s Digital R&D Scotland second call fund?

10.01.2013

First round awardees give us their top tips in this blog post written by guest blogger, Dr Susan Berridge, Research Assistant at CReATeS.

CReATeS (Consortium for Research into Arts and Technology in Scotland) was established to carry out research into the Nesta/Creative Scotland/AHRC Digital R&D Fund for Arts and Culture in Scotland. At the end of last year, we interviewed each of the six Arts and Cultural Organisations involved in the first call for the Digital R&D Scotland programme and asked them for any top tips for arts organisations bidding for the second round of funding. Although each of the projects had their own specific advice, common recommendations emerge.

Prior to submitting a funding application, several of the projects advocate taking the time to devise a strong, simple and well thought-out idea. The organisations recognise that this idea may change over the course of the project and that arts organisations applying for the second round of funding should not limit themselves, but that it is important to begin with a clear vision. In turn, it is suggested that this focus will make the application process much more straightforward. In addition, many of the arts organisations recommend taking advantage of workshops run by Nesta prior to submitting funding applications - the content from the digital advisory day workshop can now be viewed online, here. One organisation also emphasises the importance of thinking through the budget carefully, consulting with all relevant divisions and departments to ensure that that the funding is sufficient to cover all areas of the proposed project.

While having a simple, focussed initial idea is seen as vital to ensuring funding success, many of the projects also stress the importance of innovation, creativity and ambition. In order to come up with a truly innovative idea, some organisations recommend exploring what else is out there as well as retaining a sense of how individual projects might fit into the wider cultural sector.

Finally, each of the six arts organisations stresses the importance of establishing a good working relationship with a digital technology partner. Several recommend taking the time to interview digital technology providers to find a suitable partner who is genuinelyenthusiastic and passionate about the project and who understands both the individual idea and the ethos of the arts organisation more widely. It is also deemed helpful to find a technology partner with specific experience in carrying out the type of work that the project requires.

Hopefully these recommendations will prove useful to any arts and cultural organisations intending to apply for the second round of funding.

The second call for Digital R&D Scotland is now open and the deadline is 1 February 2013. To find out more and apply please visit: www.nesta.org.uk/digital_rnd_scotland